Sibling Love

One of my very favorite things is to watch my kids play together. Molly has always loved playing with Stockton but, lately, he has loved playing with her as well! They'll sneak off together and play for pretty long chunks of time. Most often they go into one of their rooms, close the door, and do who knows what. I check on them every few minutes to make sure all is well and then enjoy the time I have to get things done.Stockton seems to be growing up so fast...probably because he follows his sister around and tries to do everything she does. He is her little shadow. He has started to say her name-it sounds a lot like "Mama" but just different enough for me to tell the difference. Molly doesn't seem to mind her shadow too much; if she starts to get annoyed she just says she needs some quiet time and then she goes in her room, shuts the door, and plays. She is very mature about it all. She is also growing up so fast.From the day we brought Stockton home, Molly has been patient and kind to her brother. Occasionally she gets frustrated when he gets in the way, but for the most part she has learned to either share with him or redirect him to something else. I watched the following interaction last week:
Molly was trying to play with some new Christmas toy, but Stocky kept getting in the way and knocking it over. Molly said "Stocky, please don't" over and over in a very nice voice. Finally she just said, "Okay, fine, Stocky, let's do this instead" and both of them went and played with something else.Molly is also very proud of everything that he learns. I've never seen her be jealous if he's getting more attention from us. She gets just as excited if he learns something new and is right there cheering him on. We think he is very lucky to have such a nice sister.I am so happy to see them becoming such great friends. I am also relieved that they play so well together since I will have my hands full in just a couple of months with Baby #3. I've completely lost track of how many weeks I am by this point, but my due date is March 14th, which seems to be approaching extremely fast. We've also known for a couple of months now that we are having a little girl, which we couldn't be more excited about.

Life is going to get crazy soon!!!

A week of Halloween and a bit of Thanksgiving

We (meaning Molly) celebrated Halloween four times. She had picked out her costume ...a pink fairy...on a trip to Walmart a month earlier and I couldn't get her to change her mind. (Not like I tried too hard-she was so excited when she saw it at the store and even more excited when I actually bought it for her!) So she needed no encouragement to get dressed up for each party...

Her first party was at dance. Since she doesn't let me watch I have no pictures. But they played games, had treats, and danced around to songs like "Monster Mash" and "Witches Brew."

At the ward party we played a bunch of different carnival-like games and then trick-or-treated through the halls. We spent most of our time at the cake walk (although I guess it would be called the "sucker walk" because the kids got a sucker when their number got called). Stockton won a sucker right away but it took Molly forever. Literally, about 15 minutes. Don't you think the people running it would notice that we had been there forever and just call her number? That's what I would do. I swear the same kid won over and over. Oh well, she persisted and eventually won a Dum-dum sucker.We went trick or treating at Grandpa Gene's work. Stockton got the hang of trick-or-treating very quick...take a piece of candy, put it in his bucket, move on to the next desk or office. It was really cute watching him. Molly had fun too, although she apparently forgot how to talk, or more specifically how to say "Thank you." But the kids made bank in the amount of candy they left his office with.We had a Halloween party that night at Justin's parents. I was in charge of the games. We played Bingo which really didn't work very well with all the crazy kids eating the M&M Bingo markers. Molly and I had also made a pinata earlier that week (talk about a mess!)...it worked well enough although I think next time I'll try to hang it up better. The pinata itself was so strong that the string holding it from the ceiling kept breaking. But eventually the kids hit it hard enough and the candy rained down on them. Molly and Tiana also had fun making a haunted house in the basement.We also had a party at my parent's house that weekend. My mom always goes all out with cute themed food and games...and Molly looks forward to seeing her cousins and their costumes.Hmmm, trick-or-treating. Not much to say about that. It was pouring and Molly only made it to three houses before she was done and wanted to come in. I felt bad but she didn't seem to mind, especially when we let her rent a movie from Redbox and turned it into a family movie night with popcorn (she chose the newest Tinkerbell movie and loved every minute of it). The rain stopped after a while but she didn't want to go out again...Saturday was a busy day so we carved pumpkins the next day (the real Halloween since it landed on Sunday).
*****

We've done a Thanksgiving Tree two years in a row so I guess it's now a tradition for us. Molly came up with something to be thankful for everyday. When we asked Stockton what he was thankful for he would usually point to something, say an animal sound, or Molly would help him.It was a Moyes Thanksgiving this year so we headed up to the cabin. Despite the fact that there was no hot water in the kitchen the meal turned out great...I'm always amazed that my mom can make so much yummy food and have it all ready at the same time. Molly has so much fun with her cousins and everything is extra fun at the cabin: we played the Wii, she slept on the top bunk in the bunk beds, they assembled foam gingerbread houses, watched movies, got new Christmas jammies, and just played all day long. This was Stockton's first year to really experience Thanksgiving dinner, but he decided to take a nap instead so he completely missed out. Molly at least tried everything although didn't love it (it wasn't my mom's cooking, I just think it's not such a kid-friendly meal)...and she thought it so silly that her cousin Chloe wouldn't eat turkey and had a hot dog instead!

Fall Field Trips

First off, we went to a pumpkin patch with Molly's school. I wish I would have known about this particular pumpkin patch earlier...close to my house, free, super fun...we would have visited much more that month. It wasn't huge but boasted of a petting zoo (with a baby kangaroo!), hay castle, straw bale maze, a huge area with corn to play in, and a wagon ride. Both of my kids loved it there...

(Hailey, Molly, Jade, Emma, Matthew)It's not Halloween without a visit to Gardner's Village to see the witches. That's where we headed as soon as we left the pumpkin patch. The older kids went on a scavenger hunt for the witches, we did a pony ride, and visited the petting zoo. We weren't aware that when you enter the petting zoo, you are actually walking around with the animals. This was okay until one of the goats ate Abby's paper which caused some tears from Abby and Molly and lots of laughs from the grown-ups!Stocky lovin' his first pony ride

I traveled to Kentucky to visit the Broadbents for 6 days. I went with my mom and dad, but without Justin or the kids. They all stayed at Justin's parents...April took care of the kids in the day, Justin at night and on the weekend. All reports I heard were that both kids did great! Which was wonderful for me...I enjoyed some shopping, some site seeing, and spending lots of time with Jeff, Ali, and two of the cutest little boys ever!At a candy shop in IndianaBack to real life and a trip to the Bean Museum on BYU Campus. Again, a place that we just might visit when we're feeling the winter doldrums. Great big animals everywhere made Stocky happy. He liked pointing to those that he recognized and making the sound they make. The preschool group had front row for the reptile show and then we walked around looking at all the animals. Matthew and Molly holding a python skinMolly was excited to see an Alaskan moose, because Grandpa Moyes just got home from hunting for one.

The Museum was fun, but the best part? Lunch and ice cream at the Creamery after. Yum!(Hailey, Bailey, Charlie, Jade, Sam, Molly, Stockton, Matthew)

Stockton, October-November 2010

Maybe it's been so long since Molly was this age that I've forgotten how busy these little ones are and how they get into everything. Or maybe Molly wasn't as busy...maybe it's just a boy thing. Anyway, moving from room to room in my house, here are some of the things Stockton gets into each day (or multiple times a day).

Kitchen: empties the drawers with the miscellaneous utensils (spatulas, measuring cups, etc.), empties the Tupperware cabinet, pulls out the garbage bags under the sink, will empty the dishes out of the dishwasher if I try to load/empty it while he's close, will take cans off the shelves in the pantry and carry them around the house, climbs on the kitchen table multiple times a day (I've started turning the chairs around so he can't do this, although it looks a bit funny)

Family Room: takes all the movie cases out of the entertainment center, takes the photo albums out of the cabinets, takes the pictures off of the side tables

Landing: There is a book shelf at the top of the stairs that hasn't had books in the bottom two shelves for months now. Stocky would pull them off the shelves and throw them down the stairs so I boxed them up and put them in the attic.

Kid's rooms: He can do what he wants here. Just loves pulling toys and books out and playing with them, although they end up getting dragged all over the house and thrown down the stairs...

Our room: pulls books off the bookshelf, scatters unread magazines all over and rips the pages, empties all pens, pencils, stamps, and computer stuff

Bathroom: unrolls the toilet paper, empties the cupboards under the sinks, empties the drawers, climbs on the toilet (which is much better than playing in it...my phone got thrown in the toilet a couple of months ago and I had to get a new one)

Closet: takes all shoes off the shelves and puts them in the dirty clothes basket

Laundry Room: loves to help me put clothes from washer to dryer, but if I don't take the lint collector out before he gets it then the lint gets all over the wet clothes and all over the house

I think that probably covers it. You're probably wondering why I haven't baby-proofed...I guess I just keep thinking he'll get over it soon. Wishful thinking I guess. Also, it's not as if I'm leaving him alone for long periods of time. He's just sneaky and gets into things as soon as I turn my back.

Despite all of this he sure is a funny boy! He has us laughing all day long. He doesn't say many words although he's started to experiment when we tell him to say something. His biggest love (besides his mom) are animals. Here are most of his animal sounds...

Ignore the last minute or so of this movie. I haven't figured out editing yet...

Farm Country, Nebo Loop, and a visit from cousins

Last year our little preschool made it on one field trip. This year we scheduled one each month. Our first was to Farm Country.(Hailey, Jade, Matthew, and Molly. Charlie is missing; he didn't want to ride the cow.)

I have plenty of pictures of Molly on a horse (probably all posted somewhere on this blog)...here is yet another one.On a rainy Monday in October we drove Nebo Loop. It took longer than we thought but Stockton slept for a bit and Molly was easy. I wish I was a good photographer...these pictures hardly do it justice.We got out and walked around one of the lakes in the canyon. Molly was super excited when Grandma brought Chloe and Abby to our house just to play. She doesn't get that very often. They played for a few hours before they went home. Molly cried when they left. My mom and I had a fun time watching them play...their personalities are all so unique, yet they love the same things and are the best of friends.

Photos

The kids got their pictures taken back in September. I love how they turned out.

Most people who have seen the pictures of Molly have just said how grown-up she looks. And it's true. She really enjoyed getting dressed up and having her pictures taken. She wasn't shy at all. Stockton did really well. I have a hard time getting him to stop long enough for pictures at home, but the photographer had no problems. Isn't he a cutie, even though he was desperately in need of a haircut? (Justin has since banned be from combing his hair. He cringes every time he sees it.)And a few with the two of them. They are the best of friends.

Molly turns four

Okay, so Molly turned four last month...September 15th to be exact. It didn't quite work out to have one party with grandparents so Molly got a few days of celebrating. We started a couple days early, a party in Plain City. I was in town to get the kid's pictures taken so we threw together a party for the cousins and grandma and grandpa. Molly opened a bazillion of presents from my mom and dad (clothes, books, toys, dance stuff, etc.) but her favorite by far was the pillow pet.She named it Alyssa.

We had cupcakes. Molly wanted purple and princess. I went with easy and she was delighted.Fast forward two days to her actual birthday. She went to school first. I took the leftover cupcakes after and the kids managed to finish them off.

We let her open her presents after school. She got a camera.She hadn't shown any interest in having a friend party, so we decided to wait one more year. Instead, Justin took the day off and we took her swimming to the indoor pool in Lehi. It was fun, not crowded at all, and such a nice day that they even opened up the outside part and we spent some time outside.Molly chose her birthday dinner. She wanted French Toast. I've used this recipe for years and we all love it...just don't forget the buttermilk syrup and I like it with bananas and strawberries on top.

It was just us that night but I felt like she had to have a birthday cake. I thought I'd get really ambitious and make a fancy cake, but instead I just used the leftover purple frosting and put some princesses on top. It's a good thing I didn't go all out...as soon as she blew out the candles she was off playing with the princesses. No one even had a piece of cake! Maybe next year.Molly's birthday continued the next day. When grandkids turn 4, they get a special date with Grandma Kay to Build-A-Bear and out to eat. Molly was so excited for this. She picked out an iCarly bear, not because she has any clue who iCarly is (neither do I) but because it was sparkly purple. She picked out two outfits and named her Carly.That night Justin's parents took us bowling and treated us to dinner. Before we started, Molly opened her presents. Everyone knows our Molly so well, and just what she likes...This was a perfect birthday activity for Molly. She really loved every minute of it. She'd roll her ball down the lane and then jump and cheer no matter how many pins she knocked down.Stockton was equally happy running all over the bowling alley, playing with the balls, and hanging from the ramp thing that Molly used.Molly really got spoiled all around. How lucky she is to have so many people who love her! We love her too. A lot.

On a side note, Molly was hoping to get a new cousin for her birthday. Although he didn't arrive on her actual birthday, a day late was okay. Welcome to the family, baby Grant!And it just two weeks, I'll be holding that sweet babe. Can't wait!